I can honestly say I hate most Josei. Most I've read or seen is pointless smut-driven plot. Bad characters and poor development. I prefer Shounen eye-candy. Itachi from Naruto, Byakuya from Bleach. I may like dark long hair and brooding types, but they are far from those wimpy ultra-fem men you see in shoujo or josei.

dude, what josei have you been reading o_o search for high rated josei that doesn't have the smut tag attached to it. there are plenty quality ones~

okay, so i love me some hot men too, but i really value confidence and passion above all else. therefore, near the top of my list is kuranosuke from Kuragehime. i would go lesbian for the female version of him, but i love his passion and drive for the fashion industry and on transforming tsukimi. LOVE. guh, i also have a thing for his much older but not-experienced-at-all brother shu AHHHH SO ADORABLE.

A lot of Shinjo Mayu, which ranges from older teen to adult ratings. Says Shoujo on most of her work, but I'd classify it more as josei because the themes are more adult than actual shoujo. Most of the female leads are like 17-18, fresh out of HS and dumb. If I had a 16 yr old daughter reading that, I think I'd be mad. Its bad enough I have a 16 yr old niece who tries to snoop through my josei and smut manga.I don't hate all Josei just most - I found a few based on books interesting. Could have been better drawn though. 'Silver' was ok and the male lead wasn't too bad to look at. I'd classify 'Red River' more Josei than Shoujo. It a supernatural-time travel story, but the female lead is just a teen and pretty much has to grow up fast in order to survive. Most of its themes are more grown up because in the USA, we are more conservative than Japan. That's why there are parental warnings all over Red River if you buy US english versions. The guys weren't too bad looking in that series.

It just seems that everytime a decent Josei starts getting translated, it either gets dropped by the scanning group, its ugly art or the story isn't that great, the scanners put it on hiatus or don't finish. And in rare cases such as NANA, the artist/author gets sick and can't finish. Or if it gets picked up by a USA publisher, it gets 'edited'.

Its really that I haven't found 'good-looking characters' it just that they usually don't draw me in unless they show depth.... and are of a proper age. And as an older reader, Its hard to find pieces in my age range where I don't look like a pedophile, a weirdo, or a cougar. Sigh- showing my age. I've been reading manga since I was a teen in HS. Bleach came out when I was like 22. (See what I mean.) But, this 'old lady' doesn't plan on separating from her manga or her anime collection anytime soon!

I can honestly say I hate most Josei. Most I've read or seen is pointless smut-driven plot. Bad characters and poor development. I prefer Shounen eye-candy. Itachi from Naruto, Byakuya from Bleach. I may like dark long hair and brooding types, but they are far from those wimpy ultra-fem men you see in shoujo or josei...

Quote from gwkimmy

what josei have you been reading

A lot of Shinjo Mayu, which ranges from older teen to adult ratings. Says Shoujo on most of her work, ......It just seems that everytime a decent Josei starts getting translated, it either gets dropped by the scanning group, its ugly art or the story isn't that great, the scanners put it on hiatus or don't finish. And in rare cases such as NANA, the artist/author gets sick and can't finish. Or if it gets picked up by a USA publisher, it gets 'edited'.

Its really that I haven't found 'good-looking characters' it just that they usually don't draw me in unless they show depth.... and are of a proper age. And as an older reader, Its hard to find pieces in my age range where I don't look like a pedophile, a weirdo, or a cougar. Sigh- showing my age. I've been reading manga since I was a teen in HS. Bleach came out when I was like 22. (See what I mean.) But, this 'old lady' doesn't plan on separating from her manga or her anime collection anytime soon!

If I'm reading you right, you're basing your negative opinion of josei on the works of Shinjo Mayu, which aren't even josei? Now I can see why you think 'josei' is all "pointless smut-driven plot" and "bad characters and poor development." You can't just call something josei because you think it should be.

As for shounen boys vs. josei men, Byakuya may be a honey, but he's as cold as Hitsugaya's zanpakto. What we were talking about here -- and the discussion has strayed somewhat from the original topic -- was character as much as looks. All of the josei characters that have been mentioned here and with which I'm familiar are more fully fleshed-out and dimensional than Byakuya's dueling obsession with pride and honor - and would make much better boyfriends.

I'm an old lady too (don't tell anyone), but I'm relatively new to this stuff. I share your frustration with the availability of josei, but on the other hand there is nothing like this for old ladies like us in the American comics market. BTW, my shounen guilty pleasures are Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and Gintama. With Gintama I can feel more like a cougar and less like a pedophile.

Quote from kanaid

Eh? How come nobody pointed this one out or I might have missed it? It's Hokuto from Hapi Mari. Don't like him when he's in power suit and his hair all gelled up but when his hair is down, yum...

Yours is about the sixth vote, and I like him in and out of his power suit.

yeah mayu shinjo is most DEFINITELY not josei o_o there is such thing as shoujo with smut in it. josei most of the time requires the female to be more mature than the typical high school girl in shoujo. most josei women are out of high school and either in college or the working force, with the exception of a few like Kiss and Never Cry.

ugh, im re-reading hapi mari and hokuto is a guilty pleasure as well, despite not being ideal at all. goddamn you sexy men ;(

For some reason when i see the topic i remember this guy straight away, i think it was Yato or something i can't quite remember the title though. If i'm not mistaken it was a manga about werewolves and if my memory serve me right there's a sequel or was that prequel .

________________****You like the things that i HATE, and i HATE the things that you like****

I don't see how you can hate josei and then list a bunch of mainstream shoujo titles as examples. Branch out.. there's a lot of good stuff to discover. These titles were written for adult women after all and there's plenty of us around.

Why only count characters from Josei manga? It's true that there aren't many (gentle)manly guys to be found in Shoujo or Shounen - the majority are way too pretty - but there are exceptions like Wanichin from MATSUMOTO Tomo's Beauty is the Beast.And there are plenty of handsome guys in the Seinen department:

Well, as most of my favourite male leads from Josei have already been mentioned, I have only one guy to add: Tagaya from 3 AM Dangerous Zone by NEMU Youko. His looks might be quite unconventional for manga but he draws your attention with his hat and beard. It is to be questioned if he also fits tartufos other criteria though.

Last edited by Tripitaka at 1:42 pm, Dec 27

________________"Stories are what death thinks he puts an end to.He can't understand that they end in him, but they don't end with him."- Ursula K. Le Guin, Gifts

To be savoured:- Blood Alone by TAKANO Masayuki- Otoyomegatari by MORI Kaoru- Gangsta. by Kohske- Seishun Kouryakuhon by AKIZUKI Sorata

I agree with those, although Hijikata's face definitely was in my eyes quite handsome in the flashbacks. Aside from them, there is Saizou from SHIMOTSUKI Kairi's Brave 10 to add. Not only, because he as a face nice to look at, but also because of his chrisma and scary feel, while being all calm and quiet.

To go back to Josei, there are:

Shinichi from Chika (チカ)'s Kore wa Koi no Hanashi and Yoo Jung from Cheese in the Trap by Soon Ki. Those are definitely the first ones coming to my mind, because both have this awkward atmosphere around them, but still act reasonable and become more and more likeable as the story goes on - And, of course you have your eye-candy effect in both cases, too. Kkk.

________________"It's like love is a bonus in your life. Even without it, I'm just fine. I don't feel like pointlessly searching for it. You don't have to make yourself unhappy." (Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji)